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GSE Profiles
Staff Contact: Ann Foley (POME), Sitome Mebrahtu (PACE)
Bruce Fuller
Professor
Policy, Organization, Measurement, and Evaluation
Office: 3527 Tolman Hall
Phone: (510) 642-9163
Email: b_fuller at berkeley.edu
Website: pace.berkeley.edu
Office: 3659 (POME) 3653 (PACE) Tolman Hall
Phone: (510) 642-0709/(510) 643-2923
Email: afoley at berkeley.edu / pace at berkeley.edu
Working inside policy organizations and the academy over the past three decades, Bruce Fuller has asked how public action best strengthens families and schools. He helped to design policy reforms for a free-thinking California governor, and advised opposition leaders on education reform as democracy emerged in southern Africa. Professor Fuller has studied child care programs — arising at the grassroots or state run — in Latin America. A fundamental question continues to motivate this array of research and writings: How can central governments enrich families and schools when situated in colorfully pluralistic societies? In short, what happens when government confronts culture?Trained in political sociology, Professor Fuller’s recent projects center on small-scale organizations that sprout across diverse communities, such as charter schools and preschools, which often spread in response to the clumsy or gray character of central states. Yet, decentralized institutions can disempower central governments, a worrisome scenario for those concerned with equity. Professor Fuller’s current research delves into how young children are socialized in diverse Mexican-American homes, and what neighborhood organizations effectively advance their development. His recent book, Standardized Childhood: The Political and Cultural Struggle over Early Education, examines how elite reformers often push for state incorporation of community programs, even eroding the authority and resources spread across diverse ethnic leaders.
Professor Fuller also looks into fields that have become hyper-centralized, exemplified by his critical work on No Child Left Behind. A college dropout, he eventually received his Ph.D. from Stanford University. Before coming to Berkeley, Professor Fuller was a research sociologist at the World Bank and taught at Harvard’s School of Education.
Ph.D., Stanford University; Policy, Organizational Behavior, and Institutions
return to top1996-present
Professor, Education and Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley. Currently teaching education policy, political theory, and sociology of education. Co-Director, Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE), based at University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University.1990-1996
Associate Professor of Education and Public Policy, Harvard University. Sociology of education, comparative policy, and cross-cultural research.1988-1990
Project Manager, Agency for International Development, United States Department of State. Managed technical assistance and research efforts related to school effectiveness, gender equity, and social policy adjustments with host nations.1984-1988
Research Sociologist, Education and Socioeconomic Analysis departments, World Bank. Work focused on the political and policy determinants of school expansion (in Latin America and Southern Africa), raising school quality, and demographic measurement.1983-1985
Graduate Faculty Member, College of Education, University of Maryland. Taught courses in sociology of education, organizational behavior, and program evaluation.1981-82
Special Assistant to the Governor, State of California. Assisted in developing, and securing passage of, the governor's legislative program on education and youth employment.1978-80
Research Assistant, Sociology Department, Stanford University. Focused on problems of organizational effectiveness with Professor Sanford Dornbusch, his principal adviser. Mr Fuller’s thesis centered on staff motivation inside community organizations, as government intensified bureaucratic controls over social programs inside neighborhoods.1973-78
Education Advisor, California Legislature, Assembly Ways and Means Education Subcommittee and Committee on Higher Education. Advised legislators on school spending, drafted legislation, and analyzed policy options.
return to topFall 2007
EDUC 260A. Issues in Educational Administration and Policy. (3) Three hours of lecture per week. Concepts, theories, and issues related to administration and evaluation. Application is made to governmental policy for school systems.
24253 EDUC 260A 001 3 Fuller, B. M 12:00 PM 3:00 PM 5634 Tolman Hall
Syllabus for Education 260A (pdf).Spring 2008
Cultural Pluralism, Language, and Education Policy. (3)
Advanced Policy Analysis and Methods. Course control number and detailed description to follow.
Mondays, 12:00 - 3:00 p.m. Spring 2008
Syllabus for Education XXX (pdf).
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BooksPolitical Sociology and Public PolicyDuerr Berrick and Fuller (eds. 2005) Good Parents or Good Workers? How Policy Shapes Families' Daily Lives. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Fuller, Hannum, Baker, and Werum (eds. 2004). Inequality Across Societies: Families, Schools, and Persisting Stratification. Review of Research in Sociology of Education. Oxford: Elsevier.
Fuller and Hannum (eds. 2002) Schooling and Social Capital in Diverse Cultures. Review of Research in Sociology of Education. Oxford: Elsevier.
Fuller (ed. 2000) Inside Charter Schools: The Paradox of Radical Decentralization. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Fuller (1999) Government Confronts Culture: The Struggle for Local Democracy. New York: Taylor and Francis.
Fuller, Elmore, with Orfield (eds. 1996) Who Chooses, Who Loses? Culture, Institutions, and the Unequal Effects of School Choice. New York: Teachers College Press.
Fuller (1991) Growing Up Modern: The Western State Builds Third World Schools. New York: Routledge.
Fuller and Rubinson (eds.1992) The Political Construction of Education: The State, School Expansion, and Economic Change. New York: Praeger.
Sociology of Children and Education
Fuller with Bridges and Pai (2007) Standardized Childhood: The Political and Cultural Struggle over Early Education. Stanford University Press.Fuller and Hannum (2005). Childhood, Class, and School Achievement across Societies. Review of Research in Sociology of Education. Oxford: Elsevier.
Holloway and Fuller (1997) Through My Own Eyes: Single Mothers and the Cultures of Poverty. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Lewis, Fuller, and Hua (1995) How Much Do Children Learn in Namibia? A National Longitudinal Assessment. Windhoek: New Namibia Books.
Astin, Fuller, and Green (1978) Admitting and Assisting Students After Bakke. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Articles (Refereed Journals, Proceeding)Political Sociology and Public Policy
Fuller, Loeb, Strath, and Carrol (2004) State Formation of the Child Care Sector: Family Demand and Policy Action, Sociology of Education, 77, 337-358.Fuller (2003) Education Policy under Cultural Pluralism. Educational Researcher, 32, 15-24.
Fuller and Strath (2001) The Child Care and Preschool Workforce: Demographics, Earnings, and Unequal Distribution. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 23, 37-56.
Fuller and Caldwell (2000) Education in Southern Africa: The Paradox of Progress. Pp. 301-326 in The Uncertain Promise of Southern Africa, edited by Y. Bradshaw and N. Ndegwa. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Fuller and Liang (1997) Market Failure? Estimating Inequality in Preschool Availability. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 15, 255-278.
Fuller (1996) School Choice: Who Wins, Who Loses? Issues in Science and Technology, 12:61-67 (Magazine of the National Academy of Sciences).
Fuller et al. (1999) School Choice: Abundant Hopes, Scarce Evidence of Results. Berkeley: University of California, Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE).
Fuller, Snyder, Chapman and Hua (1994) Explaining Variation in Teaching Practices? Effects of State Policy, Teacher Background, and Curricula in Southern Africa, Teaching and Teacher Education, 10:141-156.
Fuller, Raudenbush, Holloway and Wei (1993) Can Government Raise Child Care Quality? The Influence of Family Demand, Poverty, and Policy, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 15:255-278.
Fuller, Hage, Garnier and Sawicky (1992) Nation Building and School Expansion under the Fragile French State. Social Forces 70:923-936.
Fuller and Aklilu (eds.1992) Adjusting Educational Policies: Conserving Resources while Raising School Quality. Washington DC: World Bank [monograph].
Garnier, Hage and Fuller (1989) The Strong State, Social Class, and Controlled School Expansion in France, 1881-1975. American Journal of Sociology 95:279-306.
Fuller, Hage and Garnier (1990) State Action and Labor Structure Change in Post-colonial Mexico. Social Forces 68:1165-89.
Hage, Garnier and Fuller (1988) The Active State, Investment in Human Capital, and Economic Growth: France 1825-1975. American Sociological Review 53:824-837.
Fuller and Dornbusch (1988) The Organizational Construction of Intrinsic Motivation. Sociological Forum, 3:1-24.
Fuller (1986) Raising School Quality in Developing Countries: What Investments Boost Learning? Washington DC: World Bank (monograph).
Sociology of Children and Education
Loeb, Fuller, Kagan and Carol (2004) Child Care in Poor Communities: Early Learning Effects of Type, Quality, and Stability. Child Development, 75, 47-65.Fuller, Kagan, Loeb and Chang (2004) Child Care Quality: Centers and Home Settings that serve Poor Families, Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 19,505-527.
Hirshberg, Huang and Fuller (2005) Which Low-income Parents Select Child Care? Family Demand and Neighborhood Organizations, Children and Youth Services Review, 27, 1119-1148.
Loeb, Fuller Kagan and Carol (2003) How Welfare Reform Affects Young Children: Experimental Findings from Connecticut, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 22, 537-550.
Fuller, Holloway, Bozzi et al. (2003) Explaining Local Variability in Child Care Quality: State Funding and Regulation in California. Early Education and Development, 14, 45-66.
Fuller, Caspary, Kagan et al. (2002) Does Maternal Employment Influence Poor Children's Social Development? Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 17, 470-497.
Fuller, Kagan, Caspary and Gauthier (2002) Welfare Reform and Child Care Options for Low-Income Families. Future of Children (Packard Foundation), 12, 97-119.
Mensing, French, Fuller and Kagan (2002) How Welfare Mothers Select Child Care: Balancing Welfare and Work Requirements. Early Education and Development, 11, 573-596.
Holloway, Kagan, Fuller, Tsou and Carroll (2001) Assessing Child-Care Quality with a Telephone Interview. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 16, 165-189.
Liang, Fuller and Singer (2000) Ethnic Differences in Child-Care Selection: The Influence of Family Structure, Parental Practices, and Home Language. Early Education Research Quarterly, 15, 357-384.
Singer, Fuller, Keiley and Wolf (1998) Early Child Care Selection: Variation by Geographic Location, Maternal Characteristics, and Family Structure. Developmental Psychology, 34, 1129-1144.
Fuller, Holloway, Rambaud and Eggers-Piérola (1996) How Do Mothers Choose Child Care? Alternate Cultural Models in Poor Neighborhoods. Sociology of Education, 69:83-104.
Fuller, Liang and Hua (1996) Did Black Literacy Rise After Soweto? Public Problems and Ethnic Archipelagos in South Africa. Int'l Journal of Comparative Sociology, 37,:97-120.
Fuller, Holloway and Liang (1996) Which Families Use Child Care? The Influence of Family Structure, Ethnicity, and Parental Practices. Child Development, 67:3320-3337.
Edwards, Fuller and Liang (1996) The Mixed Preschool Market: Explaining Local Variation in Family Demand and Organizational Supply. Economics of Education Review.
Fuller, Eggers-Piérola, Liang, Holloway and Rambaud (1996) Rich Culture, Poor Markets: Why Do Latino Parents Forgo Preschooling? Teachers College Record, 97:400-418.
Holloway, Rambaud, Fuller and Eggers-Piérola (1996) What is "Appropriate Practice" at Home and in Child Care? Low-Income Mother's Views on Preparing their Children in School. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 10, 451-473.
Fuller and Clarke (1994) Raising School Effects while Ignoring Culture? Local Conditions and the Influence of Classroom Tools, Rules and Pedagogy, Review of Educational Research, 64:119-157.
Holloway and Fuller (1992) The Great Child Care Experiment: What Are the Lessons for School Improvement? Educational Researcher, October.
Gorman, Holloway and Fuller (1988) Preschool Quality in Mexico: Variation in Teachers Organization and Child Activities. Comparative Education 24:91-101.
Holloway, Gorman and Fuller (1987) Child-Rearing Attributions and Efficacy among Mexican Mothers and Teachers. Journal of Social Psychology, 127:499-510.
Holloway and Fuller (1983) Situational Determinants of Causal Attributions: The Case of Working Women. Social Psychology Quarterly 46:131-140.
Fuller, Wood, Rapoport and Dornbush (1982) The Organizational Context of Individual Efficacy. Review of Educational Research 52:7-30.
Fuller (1981) Educational Evaluation and Shifting Shifting Youth Policy, Evaluation Review April. Reprinted in Ernest House, editor (1982) Handbook of Evaluation. Beverly Sage.
Comparative Sociology and Policy
Rivarola and Fuller (1999) Nicaragua's Experiment to Decentralize Schools: Contrasting Views of Parents, Teachers, and Directors. Comparative Education Review, 43:489-521.Bradshaw and Fuller (1996) Policy Action and School Demand in Kenya: When a Strong State Grows Fragile. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 37:72-96.
Fuller, Singer and Keiley (1995) Why Do Girls Leave School in Southern California? Family Economy and Mothers' Commitments. Social Forces, 74:657-680.
Fuller, Hua and Snyder (1994) When Girls Learn More than Boys: The Influence of Time in School and Teaching Practices. Comparative Education Review
Fuller and Snyder (1991) Vocal Teachers, Silent Pupils? Life in Botswana Classrooms. Comparative Education Review, 35.
Fuller and Heyneman (1989) Third World School Quality: Current Collapse, Future Potential. Educational Researcher 18, 12-19.
Lockheed, Fuller, and Nyirongo (1989) Family Effects on Student Achievement in Thailand and Malawi. Sociology of Education 62, 239-256.
Fuller, Edwards, and Gorman (1986) When Does Education Boost Economic Growth? School Expansion and Quality in Mexico. Sociology of Education, 59:167-181.
Fuller (1986) Is Primary School Quality Eroding in the Third World? Comparative Education Review, 30, 4, 491-507.
Fuller and Izu (1986) What Shapes the Organizational Beliefs of Teachers? American Journal of Education 94:501-535.
Fuller, Noel, and Malouf (1986) Polity and Competence: Can the State Change Teachers' Skills? Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 7:343-354.
Fuller and Rapoport (1984) Indigenous Evaluation: Youth Programs in the United States and Israel, Evaluation Review, 8:25-44.
Stern, Fuller, and Harter (1984) Education and Production in the United States. Journal of Education and Production, Gaborone, Botswana.
Fuller (1983) Youth Job Structure and School Enrollment. Sociology of Education, 56:145-156.
Book ChaptersFuller and Rasiah (2005) Schooling Citizens for Evolving Democracies, Pp. 81-106, Institutions of American Democracy: The Public Schools, edited by S. Fuhrman and M. Lazerson. New York: Oxford University Press.
Fuller and Liang (1999) Which Girls Stay in School? The Influence of Family Economy, Social Demands and Ethnicity in South Africa. In Critical Perspectives on Schooling and Fertility, edited by Bledsoe and Haaga, National Academy of Sciences Panel. Washington DC: National Academy Press.
Holloway and Fuller (1999) Families and Child Care: Divergent Viewpoints. Pp. 98-115 in The Silent Crisis in U.S. Child Care, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, edited by Suzanne Helburn (May).
Fuller and Holloway (1996) When the State Innovates: Interests and Institutions Create the Preschool Sector. Pp. 1-42 in Research in Sociology of Education and Socialization, edited by Aaron Pallas. Greenwich, CT.: JAI Press.
Fuller (1994) Policies to Improve School Quality. In International Encyclopedia of Education, edited by Postlethwaite and Husen. Oxford: Pergamon.
Fuller (1992) Raising Literacy under Fragile State Institutions. Annals of the American Academy of Political Science, 520 (March).
Fuller, Lockheed, and Rodd (1991) Improving the Preparation and Motivation of Teachers. In Lockheed et al. Improving Primary Education in Developing Countries. New York: Oxford University Press and the World Bank.
Fuller, Gorman, and Edwards (1986) School Quality and Economic Growth in Mexico. In Heyneman and White, editors. The Quality of Education and Economic Development, pp. 17-34. Washington DC: World Bank.
Fuller (1981) Educational Testing: Learning from the National Debate. In Educational Testing and the Public Interest, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Other Papers/Reports/Op-Eds/Computer ProgramsPolitical Sociology and Public Policy
Fuller (2007) No Child Left Behind lowers the bar on school reform. San Francisco Chronicle , June 11.Fuller (2007) Good education is based on good relationships. San Jose Mercury News, April 11.
Fuller (2007) When college aid competes with school reform. San Francisco Chronicle, January 2.
Fuller (2005) The Terminator wants to liquidate our fiscal commitment to education, Riverside Press-Enterprise and Ventura Star, October 25.
Fuller (2005) Schwarzenegger's PTA Problem, San Francisco Chronicle, February 1.
Fuller (2004) Only the Politicking Gets an 'A'. Washington Post, February 1.
Fuller (2004) Schwarzenegger Budget Lets Poor Pay the Price. San Jose Mercury News, May 27.
Fuller (2004) Total Eclipse: Media Covered Recall as The Arnold Show, Extra (magazine of the media association, FAIR) January.
Fuller (2003) Federalism on the Cheap: School Reform Edicts Grow Longer, State Budgets Implode. Education Week, January 15.
Fuller (2002) Even Tougher Love for Welfare Moms. Los Angeles Times, June 11.
Fuller (2001) What's in a State Budget? Values. Los Angeles Times, November 26.
Fuller (2000) What Lies Beyond the Sound Bites? Bush vs. Gore on School Reform. Education Week, October 18.
Fuller and Holloway (1996) Poor Families, Rich Values. Boston Globe, July 28.
Fuller (1996) Virtual Policy: The Earned Income Tax Credit Feels Good, But Does It Lift Families Out of Poverty? Chicago Tribune, January 3.
Fuller (1981) Carter's Program for Youth. New York Times, February 12.
Sociology of Children and Education
Olsen & Fuller (2007) Clinton’s hostile preschool takeover. Investor’s Business Daily, July 23, A17.Fuller (2006) Accountability Plus: As National Test Scores Stall, Rethinking No Child Left Behind. Education Week, August 9.
Fuller (2006) No Toddler Left Behind? Sacramento Bee, May 7.
Fuller (2006) The Preschool Spin. Los Angeles Times, April 4.
Fuller (2006) Universal Preschool: Democrats’ New Embrace of Big Government. San Francisco Chronicle, January 29.
Fuller (2006) Preschool Reform Measure Won’t Close Learning Gap for Poor. San Jose Mercury News, February 26.
Fuller (2006) Reiner Flubs His Preschool Plan. Riverside Press-Enterprise, February 21.
Fuller (2005) Measure Would Obliterate Schools’ Funding Guarantee. Riverside Press-Enterprise and Ventura Star, October 23-24.
Fuller, Bridges, and Livas (2005) Community Involvement, Not State Bureaucracy — Early Education Debate, Sacramento Bee, July 24.
Fuller (2004) Accountability Rises, Scores Fall. Los Angeles Times, August 22.
Fuller (2004) Are Test Scores Really Rising? School Reform and Campaign Rhetoric, Education Week, October 13.
Fuller (2004) Bush Punts on Child Care, but Families Could Still Win. San Francisco Chronicle, April 6.
Fuller (2003) Hardball Question: As Governor, How Would You Fix Education? Sacramento Bee, August 21.
Fuller (2002) Families Can’t Live on Wedding Rings Alone. Los Angeles Times, March 4.
Fuller with Kuboyama and Park (2002) Davis Gets So-So Marks in Education. Los Angeles Times, September 4.
Fuller (2001) "Ready to Read, Ready to Learn" Needs Someone Ready to Lead. Los Angeles Times, July 25.
Fuller (2001) Ready They Are Not: School Reform… but Children Start School Already Behind. San Francisco Chronicle, January 14. Sunday Opinion section.
Fuller and Huerta (2000) The State Deserves a Lot of Credit for Better Test Scores. Los Angeles Times, July 27.
Fuller (2000) Bush, Gore Push Early Education to Gain Women’s Vote. San Francisco Chronicle, April 11.
Fuller (1999) Will Davis’ School Reforms Be Able to Make the Grade? San Francisco Chronicle, March 3.
Fuller (1999) School Reform Plans Must Address Poverty. San Jose Mercury News, January 3.
Fuller (1998) Serious Reform or Policy Schizophrenia? Los Angeles Times, October 28.
Fuller (1995) Weld to AFDC Moms: Tough Luck. Boston Globe, August 22.
Fuller and Holloway (1994) Welfare: It's No Reform if it Harms Children, Los Angeles Times, June 20.
Fuller and Holloway (1994) Why the Silence on Welfare Reform? School Leaders Should Focus on Poor Families and Young Children. Education Week, September 28.
Fuller (1993) Should Head Start Be Sacred? Boston Globe, July 14.
Brunner and Fuller (1978) Student Aid Plan: Too Little or Too Much? Los Angeles Times, February 26.
Fuller (1977) A Skeptic's Look at Brown's Era of Limits. Los Angeles Times.
Fuller (1977) University: Issue Is Influence, Not Control. Los Angeles Times, February 21.
Book Reviews, Comments, etc.Fuller (2005) The Head Start Debates (by Edward Zigler and Sally Styfco), Children and Youth Services Review.Fuller (2004) Local Meanings, Global Societies: Anthropology and World Culture (by Kathryn Anderson-Levitt), Comparative Education Review.
Fuller (2002) Charter Schools in Action (by Finn, Manno and Vanourek). Education Next, Hoover Institution.
Fuller (2002) Children’s Interests/Mothers’ Rights: The Shaping of America÷s Child Care Policy. Political Science Quarterly, 115, 477-479.
Fuller (1989) Rethinking the Nineteenth Century (by Francisco Ramirez). Contemporary Sociology, 18, 528-530.
Fuller (1987) Educational Policies in Crisis: Japanese and American Perspectives (William Cummings). Contemporary Sociology, 16, 894-895.
Elms and Fuller (1980) Selective Admissions in Higher Education (Carnegie Council). Harvard Educational Review, 50, 442-445.
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PapersPolicy Reports and Working Papers - Berkeley, Stanford, Yale Consortium [a single external referee on behalf of the PACE institute]
Fuller, Livas, and Bridges (2005) How to Expand and Improve Preschool in California. Berkeley: Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE)Bridges, Fuller, Rumberger, and Tran (2004) Preschool for California's Children: Promising Benefits, Unequal Access. Berkeley: Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE).
Novak and Fuller (2003) Penalizing Diverse Schools? Similar test scores, but different students brings federal sanctions. Berkeley: Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE).
Fuller, Kagan, and Loeb (2002) New Lives for Poor Families? Berkeley and New Haven: The Growing Up in Poverty Project (monograph).
Fuller, Boots, Castilla, and Hirshberg (2002) A Stark Plateau: California Families See Little Growth in Child Care Centers. Berkeley: Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE).
Fuller, Chang, and Suzuki (2001) Child Care Aid and Quality for California Families. Berkeley: Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE).
Fuller, Kagan, et al. (2000) Remember the Children: Mothers Balance Work and Child Care under Welfare Reform. Berkeley and New Haven: The Growing Up in Poverty Project (monograph).
return to topMajor Research Projects
Bruce Fuller has co-directed the research institute, Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE), since coming to Berkeley in 1996. This center - focusing on school reform, policy implementation, and children's issues - is a collaborative effort with Stanford and the University of California, Davis. Based in the Graduate School of Education, PACE has been supported by the Hewlett Foundation since 1983. He currently manages the basic infrastructure.PACE's total grant activity equaled $14.9 million between January 2000 and June 2005. But, of course, Mr. Fuller is not involved in all projects. Listed below are those efforts that he leads or to which he contributes intellectually.
Child Development and Sociology of Education
Latino families and preschool experience (2003-present). Small grant ($25,000) with post-doc Seeta Pai and major grant ($404,000) with Eugene Garcia and Margaret Bridges to study child-rearing and socialization practices of diverse Mexican-American families. The ethnographic sub-study, including observations inside preschool classrooms, will inform the development of a culturally validated measure of children's social development, taking acculturation levels and social-class variability into account.The Growing Up in Poverty Project (1997-present). Major grants from the U.S. departments of education and health and human services, the Casey, MacArthur, Packard and Spencer foundations, and three Haas family funds (totaling $1.9 million) to follow 927 single mothers with young children - all moving though reformed welfare programs in California, Connecticut, or Florida. Findings relate to changes in mothers' well-being and the developmental trajectories of their young children - as reported in academic journals (above) and the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, NPR, Newsweek and Time magazines.
Preschool access and early learning effects (2003-2006). We are analyzing a national probability sample of families (ECLS-K) to assess disparities in which young children enter preschool and with what effects on early development, nationwide and within California. Supported by the Packard Foundation ($110,000), this work is conducted with Susanna Loeb at Stanford and Russ Rumberger at UC Santa Barbara. Initial working papers appear above.
Improving the preschool and child care workforce (2000-2004). A major ($9.6 million effort) supported by the state First 5 Children and Families Commission to experiment with new training programs and retention incentives for preschool teachers and child care staff. PACE conducted a longitudinal evaluation of one project and served as the intermediary organization watching after experimental preservice training programs for preschool staff. The project was managed day to day by PACE's Elizabeth Burr and Margaret Bridges.
Child care and preschool supply - family choices (1998-2004). Mr. Fuller directed a set of studies that focused on the distribution of preschool supply across California communities and selection patterns of poor families, funded by the state Department of Social Services ($1.1 million). This grew from his earlier work at Harvard on family demand patterns for child care and preschooling. In the wake of welfare reform, Sacramento wanted to learn about the population of organizations available in low-income communities and how parents were sorting into these caregiving options. Project was coordinated by PACE's Diane Hirshberg and co-financed by the Packard Foundation.
School Reform and Education Policy
Taking stock of state school accountability and federal NCLB reforms (2002-2006). We are studying the state-level reforms that preceded the controversial No Child Left Behind Act, focusing on how teachers and local educators understand and respond to these policy measures. This effort is funded largely by the Noyce Foundation (two grants totaling $518,000) and directed day to day by PACE's Elisabeth Woody. She is conducting case studies of school districts that have successfully narrowed achievement gaps. Bruce Fuller’s writing focuses on how school principals understand the fungible resources they have at hand, broadly defined, to respond to accountability pressures and to advance their own educational philosophies. His papers also have examined how NCLB rules punish schools serving diverse student. A book is being developed with scholars in and outside the project.Early Education for Latino Children (2004-present), Funded by the Foundation for Child Development, we are mapping the availability of preschool organizations nationwide and within two metropolitan regions, Los Angeles and Cook counties. Conducted for the National Hispanic Early Education Task Force, we also are investigating demographic, economic, and social determinants of preschool availability across communities.
School Choice and Decentralized Reforms (1992-present). A series of studies related to school choice in California and nationwide, funded through grants from the Lilly and Stuart foundations (totaling $120,000). The original work was conducted with Harvard colleagues Richard Elmore and Gary Orfield. This resulted in the book appearing above, Who Chooses, Who Loses? Culture, Institutions and the Unequal Effects of School Choice (Columbia, 1996). After coming to Berkeley Bruce Fuller has worked with two generations of graduate students, the first research team published Inside Charter Schools (Harvard, 2000). The second group is currently working on variability in resources flowing to charter schools and resulting inequities in school effects. This sub-study informs our broader thinking on fungible dollars and human resources that are received by (decentralized) school leaders and how they are deployed under, or in the absence of, bureaucratic rules and oversight.
Earlier Projects
Harvard University - Sociology of Childhood and Education Policy Child Care and Family Policy Project (1993-1996). This effort, conducted with Prof. Susan Holloway, involved a long-term ethnographic study of low-income mothers moving into jobs negotiated preschooling for their young children and defined their maternal role. This work was funded by the Spencer Foundation ($113,000). Our the Harvard team also analyzed national survey data at the organization level, financed by the National Science Foundation and the Packard Foundation, to understand variability in the population of local preschool and child-care programs and which families are more likely to participate in formal preschool programs.
School Decentralization in Nicaragua under Post-Sandinista, Neoliberal Reform (1995-1997). This evaluation work, funded by the World Bank, examined how local educators perceived and implemented new government efforts to decentralize financing and governance of local schools.
National Literacy Assessment in South Africa (1993-1995). The World Bank and Scandinavian donors supported the first-ever multi-racial assessment of children's literacy in South Africa, conducted in the year prior to the 1994 democratic elections. Our Harvard group worked with scholars at the University of Cape Town to design and carry out this massive survey and in-home literacy assessment, the findings of which are detailed in Mr. Fuller’s Government Confronts Culture.
Study of School Quality and Learning Growth in Namibia (1991-1995). A four-year project to assess factors influencing the effectiveness of Namibia's post-apartheid primary school system, and to advise the ministry of education on their spending program. Our team collaborated with the education ministry to survey teachers, conduct classroom observations, and assess children's learning over a three-year period, detailed in the book and papers listed above.
World Bank and U.S. Agency for International Development Comparative Sociology and Education Policy
Gender Equity and Middle-School Performance in Botswana (1991-1994). This project, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, delved into the factors that explain why some girls persist into secondary school while many drop out. The study combined a household survey (conducted with Harvard's Judith Singer and Margaret Keiley), surveys of teachers, and direct assessment of children's learning through the middle-school years.The Influence of State Policy on School Expansion and Quality in France and Mexico (Fuller, Garnier, and Hage, principal investigators, 1984-1988). Stemming from my doctoral work on the economic and policy determinants of school expansion, the National Science Foundation and the World Bank funded us to advance this line of research in these two contrasting nations with very differing political-economic histories. In addition to journal articles listed above, this led to a collaboration with Prof. Richard Rubinson at Emory and our resulting book, The Political Construction of Education.
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Editorial and Review PositionsReviewing Duties
American Educational Research Journal Pew Charitable Trusts American Journal of Sociology Rockefeller Foundation American Sociological Review Spencer Foundation Comparative Education Review World Bank Research Committee Economic Development and Cultural Change World Bank Publications Committee Economics of Education Review Harvard University Press Journal of Human Resources Jossey-Bass Publishers Sociology of Education Social Forces Qualitative Studies in Education Brookings Institution Early Childhood Research Quarterly Journal of Policy Analysis and Management
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American Sociological Association
American Educational Research Association
Society for Research in Child Development
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Charter Schools
Child Care
Early Childhood Development
Educational Equity
Ethnic Issues
Family Issues
Immigrant Issues
Policy Analysis and Evaluation
Reform Issues
Last Modified: 6/12/09
